Ignorance
by AzureF
Summary: The longawaited Sequal to 'Realization! Dib is dead, Zim is... confused. Shouldn't he be happy? This'll be a long, tormenting night...


_Oh yes! (dances)  
You thought it would never happen, you thought it was impossible! Improbable, even! But it's HAPPENED! _

I've made a seqel to 'Realization'

Oh, this goes FAR beyond an alternate ending! FAR beyond XD  
Yet it follows in the traditional footsteps of the original.

Well, I won't spoil it for ya! Go ahead and read!

* * *

The darkness of the night hung heavily on the sleeping world like a blanket of black shadow that was without perceivable weight, but its presence lay heavy on the mind, weighing one down with fears long held dormant within and only revealed in the absence of light. The wind, once so strong merely an hour before, had faltered and weakened, finally giving up its life to the emotionless sky. Its lofty wings no longer brushed the still, reaching blades of grass or the outstretched limbs of the trees, no longer did the leaves cry out as they were torn from their homes on the tail of the breeze. Not so much as a feather ruffled in the stillness, not so much as the call of a night creature disturbed the oppressive silence that had come over the world.

In the city, it was a far different matter. The dull, hazy glow of the lights shone in the darkness, a blotch upon the ebony carpet that cloaked the nightly goings on. The city still shone with life in its depths, protected by the false illumination that kept the gloom at bay, protecting and nurturing the delicate center of life that still bustled at all hours, nonstop. Despite this, however, the light could not protect the entire city, and as the expanse of civilization spread outwards into the countryside, the lights thinned, turning the suburbs into a spider web of dotted points of life, like stars twinkling desperately in the firmament.

On one quiet, deserted street, a lithe form slunk across the pavement, it's slitted eyes illuminated brightly by a sickly, neon green glow coming from the house resting forebodingly at the furthest point of the cul-de-sac. It swaggered across the brightly illuminated yard, paying no mind to the glowing red orbs that followed its every move and trained several different weapons on its body as it walked as if it owned the house and all around it, its tail held straight and twitching. After a moment, it paused, looking up towards the wire connecting the house to another beside it, its mouth opening to reveal small, sharp fangs as it mewled softly. The sound served to make the bird far above twitch in its light sleep, ruffling its feathers uneasily in subconscious discomfort as it snuggled deeper into its wings.

With a soft sneeze, the cat resumed walking, jumping up lightly to the windowsill, trying to find a way up to the wire and the meal that awaited it there. Its eyes flashed with red, metallic light as it looked in, pawing on the glass pane slightly with one foot, looking on with slight curiosity at the scene inside.

The shadows in the house were deep and dark, hiding the more obscure corners of the room completely within a wreath of murk. The very air of the room was one of disbelief and rising fear, the kind that didn't work openly, but made the hair on the back of one's neck rise in wait for some horrible news to be unearthed, for the unknown to reveal itself to them. In the middle of the cold, tiled floor, a single dark lump lay, long, metallic rods seeming to extend from its shaking form, resting lifelessly against the ground. Two graceful antennae lay flat against what had to be it's head, though the figure was so scrunched that it was impossible to be certain of what was what. If there had been any doubts, however, they were put to rest a moment later when two large, gelatinous orbs slit open, glowing with red light even in the darkness.

The figure shuddered, curling tighter, the long metal 'legs' attached to its back scraping against the hard floor with a brutally loud sound. It winced, antennae pressing even further against its head, chancing a quick glance back which it immediately diverted with a short, choking cry as it's eyes fell upon the dark, looming, doorless doorway behind it. The dismal noises it made seemed to break the silence that had come over the room, and upon the couch that rested stoically against the wall some distance away, another glow appeared seemingly out of nowhere, this one of a bright, happy aqua blue.

The small, metallic form of a robot flew off the couch, happily oblivious as it screamed joyfully, hugging a cute but dirty and battered rubber piggy to itself. It caught sight of the figure on the floor, and immediately dropped the piggy, leaping through the air to land on the other's head, snuggling into the skin and using the antennae as handles, a move that must have been at least slightly painful, but the figure merely winced and did no more, still staring at the floor, seeming dazed.

"MASTAH!" The robot screamed gleefully, seeming to have no concept of reasonable decibel levels, "MASTAH GONNA PLAY NOW, TOO! I'S GONNA MAKE BANANA AN' POTATO CUPCAKES!" With that, the little robot jumped off the other's head, standing there for a moment before it skittered towards the doorway behind the silently suffering form.

It was as if someone had set off a firecracker in the overcome being's head. Instantly, his antennae shot up, his eyes going wide as he whirled around. The long, previously unmoving metal legs darted forward, catching the little robot in the middle and throwing it rather harshly back from the doorway. In the barely discernable light, it could be seen that he was obviously not human, his skin a different tone, possibly green, though in the dark it would be near to impossible to see. He stood carefully, still seeming quite out of presence, his eyes locked upon the little robot sternly.

"No. No, Gir, going in there is bad. Very bad." His voice was quiet, heavy. He sounded almost defeated, and the hoarseness of his tone was clear.

"Master?" the little robot looked up at him innocently, something in its permanently dysfunctional brain telling it that its master shouldn't have a tone like that. That it should be getting yelled at right now, at a decibel level that rivaled anything it could achieve, "Master… What's wrong? You need a taco?" It's head opened, and a greasy, dripping taco came out, steaming slightly. The little robot smiled widely, its tongue sticking out of the side of its mouth as it offered the food to the one before it.

"Ugh…" The other flinched back from the stinking piece of food, a look of disgust crossing his face before he sighed, "No, Gir. You can have it… Just… don't go into the kitchen."

"YAAAAY!" Gir threw its little arms into the air, immediately stuffing the taco into its mouth, its expression one of pure glee, ""Kay, Master! I'm gonna watch the Monkey Show now!" With that, it leapt onto the couch, bouncing a bit as it hit the tattered cushions and squealing happily. The remote appeared in Gir's tiny mechanical hands a moment later, and it clicked the TV on, the face of a disturbing, staring, and paranoid looking monkey watching back from the screen, twitching and making nervous noises. Gir tore its aqua eyes off the screen after a long moment, laughing in childish humor before looking towards the still silent and motionless form of it's master, now bathed in multicolored light from the glow of the television. Its tone was innocently curious, "Master, where'd da big-head boy go? I wanna watch the Monkey Show with 'em! Then we could plaaaaaay… Candyland! And dress up in TUNA suits!"

The other visibly cringed, his eyes squinting into slits as something that had been slowly clouding over within them came back with a sharp vengeance, causing those orbs to look a little more watery than they already were. But he pushed it back, striking a defiant pose as he shook his head and gave a forced grin, his fists clenched and one raised into the air triumphantly.

"No, Gir! The Dib will no longer be bothering us anymore!" He cackled gleefully, "VICTORY FOR ZIM!"

"Yaay!" Gir screamed along with him, its little mind put at ease now that its master was acting normally now. It didn't even register that Zim was not putting as much heart into it as all the times before, though it did stop after a moment, "Wait… Dibby won't be coming over anymore…! BUT I LUVDED HIM! WHY, MASTER? WHY? MUFFINS!"

"Why? You ask the mighty ZIM why!" Zim growled, his voice still hoarse, glaring at the small robot while still striking his pose, his spider legs retracting into his Pak with a metallic swish of metal on metal, "The Dib-monkey was in the way of the mission, Gir! In the way of US! _Now_ we can take over this stinking ball of… _filthy_… DIRT… with no resistance! It was for the good of the mission! The MISSION!" The alien cackled again, but the sound was subdued, and he began to pace, glowering now, her eyes burning and reflecting the image of the scary monkey from the television, "It will be easy, now. Oh, how easy it will be…" His laughter faded, and he stopped, looking at the floor, "TOO easy…" after a long pause, the green-skinned creature began to shake with something that was a mix of anger and other unnamable emotions, staring down at his clenched fist, which he had lowered to his waist, "How _dare_ he… How DARE he give up in the middle of a battle with the all-powerful ZIM! NO ONE gets away from ZIM that easily! NO OOONE!" He growled loudly, looking up into the wires of the ceiling, "COMPUTERRRR!"

"Whaaaat!" The mechanical drone sounded as reluctant and moody as ever, a fact that Zim took no notice of.

"Take the _filthy_ body of the Dib-stink down into the labs!"

"Yes Master!"

Zim turned, his eyes bright with a slightly deranged gleam as he looked to Gir, "Gir! Guard the house while I'm in the lab! Let NO ONE inside!" With that, he strutted towards the dark doorway, but he paused a moment, his foot hovering in the air uncertainly over the threshold before he spoke up, a bit quietly, "Computer?"

"Master?" Even the computer seemed taken aback by the hesitant tone coming from it's owner, it's own voice more than a little dubious as it wondered what the little green alien was up to.

"Clean up the kitchen!" his tone was almost dangerously quiet, a bit hissing as his eyes narrowed, looking as if he was forcing revulsion, fear, and unbridled rage back from his expression.

"…Ye-Yes Master!"

Zim stood where he was for a long moment, his antennae lowering slightly as he stared at the doorway, able to hear the whir of machinery starting up as the kitchen was cleaned. He shuddered, blinking slowly as he turned back to the living room, his eyes falling on the screen once more, finally drifting over to the short, metallic body of Gir. The little robot was watching the television obliviously, a vacant grin on its cylindrical head as it sucked on the straw of a Suck Monkey. Zim wondered vaguely where all the repulsive human food was coming from that Gir somehow always managed to have at every second of every day, but in some way he knew that he was better off not knowing.

The whirring of machinery faded from the other room, and Zim tilted his head to the side, looking up out of the corner of his eyes at the wires.

"The kitchen is clean, Master!" the computer stated in a monotone voice.

Zim chuckled, his eyes narrowed down to slits, as he stood as tall as his tiny form could manage, somehow radiating the presence of a looming figure. He grinned, his pinkish, zipper-like teeth showing clearly in the semi-darkness as he eyes glowed eerily, their reflections being displayed from the now spotless appliances decorating the next room. Staying like this, he walked in, making his way unerringly towards the trash bin, pressing his foot down with violent pressure onto the lever that opened the lid and jumping in. After he was gone, the clang of the metal lid echoed through the house as it slammed back down, closing the long passageway into the secret labs below.

* * *

_Ahh... refreshing. Interesting to see more Zim, huh? That character can be so complex..._


End file.
